


Read to Me?

by Confuse_the_Queer



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Chowder is a little shit in this, Chowder wishes they'd get their shit together, Chris "Chowder" Chow - Freeform, Derek "Nursey" Nurse has Anxiety, Derek "Nursey" Nurse is Unchill, First Kiss, Gen, Getting Together, Its nof stated explicitly, M/M, Nursey and Dex are both Disaster Gay™s, Nursey deals with gay panic by drowning himself in lattes from Annie's, There's A Tag For That, but its there, its great, sorta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 02:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18298196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Confuse_the_Queer/pseuds/Confuse_the_Queer
Summary: William Poindexter did not know why he had agreed to come to this stupid event and work at the toddler corner. Don't get him wrong, he was fine with kids, even pretty good with them, but there were so many and they were so loud and his anxiety was going through the roof and-Nursey laughed at one of the three-year-olds clinging to his arms and legs and Will paused for a moment.Oh yeah, that's why he agreed to do this





	Read to Me?

**Author's Note:**

> My first Check Please fix!! I love these two disaster boys with my whole heart and would appreciate it if they would shut up and fuck already.
> 
> That said, I don't write smut, so you'll have to deal with mindless fluff instead!

William Poindexter did not know why he had agreed to come to this stupid event and work at the toddler corner. Don't get him wrong, he was fine with kids, even pretty good with them, but there were _so many_ and they were _so loud_ and his anxiety was going _through the roof_ and-

Nursey laughed at one of the three-year-olds clinging to his arms and legs and Will paused for a moment.

 _Oh yeah,_ that's _why he agreed to do this._

Because Derek Malik Nurse was annoying and infuriatingly calm and stupidly kind and handsome and Will was in love with him and didn't know how to handle it. Half the time he didn't know if he wanted to punch the guy's lights out or kiss him under the stars.

He watched Nursey pick up one of the toddlers and spin them around.

Right now he was leaning more towards kiss under the stars.

Suddenly, a small hand tugged at his pant leg. He looked down to see wide eyes in a small face and a book being held up to him.

“Story?” The little boy asked, and Will resisted the urge to clutch at his heart from the cuteness.

He smiled down at him, “Why of course, little one,” grabbing the book before leading him over to the corner with all the beanbag chairs. The other toddlers followed, as if they all knew what was happening immediately, and gathered around him on the floor.

“Okay then, ” he smiled and cleared his throat a bit before reading the title aloud,  “The Prince and the Pauper!”

And so he spun the story out for them, doing voices and sound effects, creating the world just like he used to do for his own younger siblings. He smiled as he made the children laugh and shout with his storytelling, knowing that meant they were enjoying it.

After he finished the story he felt eyes on him and looked up to meet the forest green eyes of none other than Nursey himself. The look he was getting was one of surprise and awe, and so he took a chance and smiled up at his fellow d-man.

To his surprise, Nursey's cheeks pinked, and he gave a small smile back.

 

Derek Malik Nurse, despite what he may say, it certainly Not Chill™.

He was currently sitting at Annie's, drowning his sorrows in iced lattes and lamenting how supremely Not Chill™ he was (and writing any good lines his mind came up with on napkins because he's not an idiot).

He had invited Dex to come with him to take care of the toddlers cause he figured Dex would be silently unhappy with all of the kids and that would be the end of his unforeseen crush on the guy. Cause bad with kids? Is a total dealbreaker for him.

What he hadn't expected was for Dex to actually _like_ the kids, even be good with them. And he had certainly not expected Dex to read to the kids.

And Dex reading to the kids… Derek had felt everything stop in its tracks when his fellow d-man had first opened his mouth.

He was so expressive and fun, spinning the story out for the kids so vividly that Derek could actually see the characters in his mind's eye. For a moment the entire world slipped away, and Derek was able to just… listen.

And then he had looked up and met his eyes, seen the smile he had given him, and for a moment even his heart stopped at the sight.

Derek was definitely Not Chill™ and extremely _fucked_.

He groaned and slammed his head on the table just as Chowder slid into the booth with him, “What's with the long face? Finals aren't for another two months.”

“Chow, have you ever done something that you thought would help but then it just makes everything a thousand times worse?”

Chowder chuckles, “I take it taking Dex to the toddler area with you was a bad idea?”

Derek groans louder, “Chow! He's so, good with kids? And he read to them?? And smiled at me??? And I’m so gay????”

Chowder swipes Derek’s half-drunk latte, “I'm not the one you should be telling this~!” He sing-songed and took a large slurp from the latte.

“I'm disowning you as my brother,” Derek mumbled into the table, and Chowder only laughed. As if on cue, the one he should be telling of his gayness slides into the booth on the other side of him.

“Why exactly are we disowning Chow?” Dex asked, taking the latte from his fellow frog and taking a sip. He made a face at the sugar content, “Ugh, _j_ _esus_ Nurse, how can you drink this stuff?”

“I like to drown my gay panic in sugary lattes, sue me.”

Dex sputtered on the sip he was taking and Chowder snorted, causing Derek to shook up, a look of said panic on his face as he realized what he had said, “I, uh, I mean…”

“Dude, it's fine, ” Dex coughed out, then grinned, “It's _chill_.”

Derek fixed him with a decidedly Not Chill™ glare, and Dex only grinned even wider. He handed Derek back his latte before both he and Chowder ordered their own drinks. A few minutes later, once they were all sipping away, Dex looked at him, a curious look in his eyes.

“So who's the guy who made you gay panic?”

This time, it was Derek's turn to choke and splutter, and Chowder nearly fell out of his seat laughing so hard.

 

That night, Will lay in his bunk, staring up at where Nursey was sleeping above him, one single through his head over and over.

_He's gay._

This was the best and worse news Will has ever heard in his life.

The best, because it meant there was a _small_ chance his love wasn't unrequited. The worst, because there was _no way_ he didn't know about it. There was no way Nursey didn't know he was gay from the minute he stepped into Samwell that first day and couldn't take his eyes off of him.

And so Will lay there, his head swirling thoughts so loud, he almost didn't hear the whisper above him.

“Dex? Are you up?”

Nursey wasn't asleep, then.

“Yes, I'm awake. But why are you? Don't you have that big test tomorrow?”

A sigh, “Yeah, but I can't sleep.” He pauses, and Will can practically see the hesitance on his face before he asks quietly, “Dex, will you… tell me a story?”

It was so quiet Will wasn't sure he heard it right, “What?”

“It's just… you sounded so nice earlier when you were reading to the kids, and it’s always been easier to fall asleep when someone is speaking. Yo-you don't have to if you don't want to-”

“Nursey, Derek, ” there was an intake of breath, “What would I even tell you about?”

The question and the quick way he gave him the option to say no proved to Will that there was no way he knew about his love, because then he'd know there was no way Will would ever say no to him.

“Tell, tell me about the lobster fishing, ” Nursey asked, “I've always wondered if you had any good stories about that.”

So, chuckling softly, Will began to tell him about the time he had scared his brother so hard he had flipped the boat. And when he finished the story and heard the slow, deep breaths of Nursey sleeping above him, he too fell asleep and allowed himself to dream of a universe where his love was returned.

 

Derek didn't allow himself another moment of weakness until about a week later.

He was having one of those days when he just didn't feel like getting out of bed, but he had a test in his Language Theory, so he got up anyway. He probably failed, but that was better than the zero he would've gotten had he skipped the class altogether.

Entering the Haus, he flopped onto the Couch with a groan, drawing the attention of Dex, who had already been sitting there and now had a lap full of Derek's feet. He would've apologized had he felt better, but Will thankfully noticed his mood and didn't comment, just going back to reading his book.

_Wait, was that Pride and Prejudice?_

Derek squinted at the book in Dex’s hand and decided yes, it was Pride and Prejudice. Oh, that would be absolutely lovely for Dex to read to him.

Before he could really think it through, Derek asked, “Dex? Could you read to me?”

Dex looked over to him with raised eyebrows, and Derek blushed, about to apologize. Before he could, however, Dex shrugged and began reading aloud. He smiled and closed his eyes, letting his friend's words wash over him, taking him to a different place, a different time.

 

As Will read Pride and Prejudice to Nursey, he was slightly confused.

He had figured the thing with him reading to Nursey would be an after dark-only thing or something they'd keep to themselves. But here he was asking for him to read to him in the middle of the day, in the living room of the Haus.

He glanced over at Nursey after a while, to see if he was still awake, and found himself being watched by the man, a soft look in his fellow d-man's eyes. When he paused at that, Nursey's eyes widened and blush overtook his features as he looked away.

Will's pulse quickened at the slight implication of the action. He cleared his throat, “How about we… go upstairs to finish this?”

Nursey's eyes flew back to him and he swallowed thickly before nodding. Then, the two made their way upstairs to their shared room. When they entered the room, Will stalked in fully while Nursey paused in front of the closed door.

“Dex?” He asked quietly, and Will began to walk towards him.

He backed the man up until his back was to the door, then placed both his hands on his chest, feeling the tight muscle underneath.  Will felt his throat go dry, and he had to swallow before he could form a proper sentence.

“Stop me if you don't want this, ” he whispered desperately to a wide-eyed Nursey, and leaned forward to brush their lips together softly.

Before he had time to properly realize what was happening, he felt Nursey gasp onto his mouth and strong hands gripping his hips, pulling him _closer_. Will hummed, pressing more into the kiss and slipping his hand from a peck to Nursey's jawline.

Before it got any deeper, they pulled apart, and Will was surprised to find them both panting. Nursey laughed incredulously and pressed their foreheads together, causing the redhead to smile.

“Please tell me this isn't an experiment or something, ” Nursey whispered into the space between them, and Will snorted.

“Don't worry, I knew I was gay long before I came to Samwell and saw your cute ass.” He grinned when Nursey laughed and pulled him back in for another kiss.

The next time they came up for air, or was Will who asked, “Derek, what does this mean for us?”

The other d-man grinned, “It means, dear William, that I’m going to take you out Saturday night, we are going to split the bill, ” he adds before Will can protest, “And that from now on I’m going to call you my boyfriend. Is that alright?”

Instead answering, Will kissed him a third time, this time nipping playfully at his mouth before seeking entrance. He allowed himself to just feel, instead of thinking about what could go wrong.

Yes, that sounded excellent.

**Author's Note:**

> @ me on Tumblr!: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/confusingly-queer
> 
> Comments are appreciated!! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~ Shy


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